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Nihilistic becomes nStigate, steps away from retail game development
Black Ops: Declassified and Resistance: Burning Skies developer Nihilistic Software is reorganizing and reforming, with a focus on moving from retail game development towards downloadable, online, and mobile markets. The California-based company today announced it's renaming itself as nStigate following a reorganization that won't see any "planned layoffs," but will see its staff base shrink across the coming months.Founded in 1998, Nihilistic debuted two years later with the macabre RPG Vampire: The Masquerade. The studio more recently came into prominence on PlayStation Vita, releasing Burning Skies and being hired by Activision to develop Call of Duty for Sony's new handheld. Black Ops: Declassified releases next month and Nihilistic assured gamers on Twitter the coming transition won't affect any current projects.[Thanks, Ethan]
Sony: 'No definitive plans' for Resistance series, no games currently in the works
The folks who created the Resistance series, Insomniac Games, are no longer working on it. This much we know. But what of Sony? The Japanese publishing giant owns the intellectual property rights to the Resistance series – as evidenced by the recent release of Resistance: Burning Skies on Vita, developed by Nihilistic – but is it planning on any more series entries? "We have no definitive plans," Sony Computer Entertainment Europe producer Daniel Brooke said in a recent interview.That isn't to say the series is done, of course. Brooke's full answer was, "The Resistance franchise has been exciting to work on, but as for the future we have no definitive plans," which sounds an awful lot more couched to us than straight up saying the series is done with. Considering Sony's five games deep on the franchise and the latest entry was billed as a sell-point for the Vita, we're not counting out Resistance just yet. After all, those Chimera are awfully dexterous.
Resistance - Burning Skies review: Hot air
Sony hears you, loud and clear. You want to play a proper first-person shooter on the go, with real controls and everything – none of that virtual thumbpad shit. Well, Resistance: Burning Skies is certainly that. It's a recognizable part of Sony's sci-fi franchise, which sees 20th-century history diverted and converted by a snarling platoon of alien origin, and it counts as a traditional shooter that takes advantage of the Vita's twin directional sticks. Consider those goals dutifully met yet not exceeded, and realize that Nihilistic's spin-off is worth discussing only for that context, not its content.Burning Skies is supposed to represent the worst day in a New York fireman's life, but its gauntlet of peril barely registers as lukewarm. As Tom Riley, you join the military's panicked push back against the Chimeran invasion, and eventually juggle an entire wheel's worth of alien weaponry. Firing them doesn't convey much kick or fury, and the impeccable presentation and orchestrated encounters of Resistance 3 are missing here, but at least the franchise's playful variety in offense is preserved.Moving and aiming with the Vita's shallow sticks takes some practice and finesse (and a few trips to the options screen), but soon enough you'll find that headshots are well within reach. However, the lack of fine-tuning via the accelerometer, used to great effect in Uncharted: Golden Abyss, is odd – especially when considered alongside some of the other Vita gimmicks you have to caress and couldn't care less about.
Resistance: Burning Skies on PS Vita May 29
What better way to compliment your seasonal barbecues than with some nicely roasted Chimera? Nihilistic Software's Resistance spin-off, Resistance: Burning Skies, is gearing up for an early summer launch on PlayStation Vita. May 29 marks the fifth coming of the Chimera in New York City.Resistance: Burning Skies takes place during the fictional Chimera invasion of the American eastern seaboard back in 1951. Players assume the role of Tom Riley, an everyday firefighter from New Jersey. We got to check out the game back at E3 -- check out our preview for more.
Resistance: Burning Skies screens get down and dirty on Vita
These screens out of the Sony EU preview event show off the gritty, gun-toting graphics of Resistance: Burning Skies on Vita -- and we do mean gritty. And gun-toting. Otherwise we wouldn't have said it. There really are graphics, too.
Resistance: Burning Skies preview: One axe, two sticks
Resistance: Burning Skies protagonist Tom Riley is having a rough day. He awakes at Ellis Island to find himself alone in a stretcher, an IV still embedded in his forearm, while a massive alien attack wages on all around him. Other than his handy fire axe and helmet, Riley's ill-equipped to take on enemies, nonetheless a swarm of Chimera who are hellbent on recovering their stolen technology from the human resistance. But this is a game, after all, so I pilot Tom towards the nearest exit -- a planked up doorway which looks ripe for the axing. Success! I couldn't help but notice in my exploration of Resistance: Burning Skies' opening room that the game looks much improved over the series' previous portable spinoff on PSP. Textures are more detailed, colors are more varied, and environmental effects actually exist. While the game is certainly early (Chimeran faces resemble little more than goofy flat paper masks at the moment), it showed a lot of promise. And maybe more importantly, it demonstrated to me that the PlayStation Vita's twin analog sticks are more than sufficient at delivering shooters on the portable.%Gallery-130818%
Resistance NGP being developed by Nihilistic, isn't a port
Insomniac Games, creator of the alternate-history FPS Resistance for PS3, tweeted its congratulations to Nihilistic Software, the apparent developer of the series' NGP incarnation (which was revealed in a promo reel of in-development games for the handheld during PlayStation Meeting 2011). Insomniac confirmed in a followup tweet that the title would be a "brand new Resistance game. Not a port." While Insomniac has handled all of the Resistance console iterations, including this September's Resistance 3, the well-recieved 2009 PSP spinoff, Resistance: Retribution, was developed by Sony Bend. With Bend currently linked to the Uncharted NGP game, however, it seems Nihilistic got the call to carry on the Resistance for the PSP successor. Little else is known about the title, aside from what can be inferred from the brief clip (pictured) in the promo reel -- which does seem to indicate that, unlike Retribution (a third-person shooter), Resistance NGP will be a first-person shooter. Nihilistic is perhaps most (infamously) known for being the original developer of the failed StarCraft: Ghost project, before going on to complete Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (EA), Conan (THQ) and the downloadable Zombie Apocalypse (Konami). The studio is currently finishing up PlayStation Move Heroes, published by Sony. [Thanks, Brian]
Heroes on the Move trailer and details surface at Gamescom
Details on Sony and Nihilistic's motion-sensitive meeting of the mascot minds, Heroes on the Move, have been scarce since the game was first announced at E3. Gamescom filled in some of the missing pieces: Players will be able to choose between Ratchet, Clank, Sly Cooper, Bentley, Jak and Daxter, who will then be able to engage in various challenges across each character's native environs, such as Metropolis, Paris and Haven City. PlayStation.Blog revealed what some of these challenges might entail, such as "City of Fights," which sees Sly collecting orbs across Paris while fending off enemies from all three universes, or "Fistful of Crystals," which tasks Clank with blasting his way through Haven City in a light gun-esque fashion. Check out some new footage in the trailer posted just past the jump, and ponder what might happen should two Heroes from different universes come into physical contact with one another. (Our money is on the end of all existence.)
Xbox Live Deal of the Week: Zombie Apocalypse for $5
Eventually, this is all going to come to an end. There won't be any more Xbox Live and the world will be overrun by the undead. It's, like, scientifically proven and stuff. In the meanwhile, game it up -- and what better to play than Zombie Apocalypse, a game that teaches you how to kill your inevitable enemy, the undead! Major Nelson is the individual who turned us on to this week's Xbox Live deal, which sees 50 percent of the price for Konami's end-of-days sim gnawed off for all Gold members, bringing it down to a more manageable 400 ($5). Hopefully this will allow more of us to receive the vital training we'll all need someday. Xbox.com: Add Trials HD to your Xbox 360 download queue ($5)
Xbox Live Top 10: People apparently played CoD4, World at War
Seriously, guys? Everyone on the planet runs out and buys Modern Warfare 2 and you're still playing Call of Duty 4 and World at War? We can understand you folks who chose to play Halo 3 -- the whole Modern Warfare 2 experience may not be your idea of a good time -- but Major Nelson's Xbox Live activity chart for the week of November 9 simply vexes us. In less puzzling news, the XBLA activity is along the lines of something we're used to seeing. Trials HD remains atop the list, followed by Castle Crashers and South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play. Konami's Zombie Apocalypse also managed to survive the gauntlet and make its way onto the list and, combined with the recent release of Left 4 Dead 2, we feel mankind is finally starting to reach acceptable levels of preparation for the inevitable future of a world plagued by the undead.
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD, Forza 3 demo
As our more astute readers likely gathered from this very post's headline, another week has gone, so it's about time we checked in with Major Nelson to see what made his list of the most-played games on Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, Bungie's dynamic duo of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST managed to do well, taking the first and third spots, respectively -- Call of Duty 4 was in the second slot, while Forza 3's demo managed to get some play time on folks' boxes, taking a tight turn into the seventh place spot. On the XBLA side, Trials HD did backflips to the top of the list, beating out recent releases Zombie Apocalypse and Bust-A-Move Live!. The remainder of the XBLA list saw favorites Battlefield 1943 and Shadow Complex rounding out the bottom end of the top five.
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: The Warriors, Zombie Apocalypse, Ion Assault
Three new games hit Xbox Live Arcade this week. We've got a brawler in The Warriors, a twin-stick shooter in Zombie Apocalypse and ... something different in Ion Assault (in a good way). Join us for the latest XBLA in Brief, as we take trial versions for a spin and see just what each game is about. Should you decide to take the plunge on any, each game will set you back 800 ($10). Download the trial version of The Warriors: Street Brawl Download the trial version of Zombie Apocalypse Download the trial version of Ion Assault [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: The Warriors, Zombie Apocalypse, Ion Assault hit XBLA
Xbox Live's Major Nelson reports that three new titles are releasing on Xbox Live this week. Whether you're looking forward to some gang justice, surviving the undead or going all Einstein on some microscopic particles, rest assured there's something here for you. This Wednesday's offerings are: The Warriors: Street Brawl 800 ($10) Zombie Apocalypse 800 ($10) Ion Assault 800 ($10) So, whatcha downloadin'?
Zombie Apocalypse plaguing XBLA and PSN next week
Though it may lack the ever-catchy soundtrack of another recently released, undead-centric twin stick shooter, we're still pretty pumped for Nihilistic Software's Zombie Apocalypse. Imagine our rapture when a recent news post on the developer's blog revealed that the title will be landing on XBLA and PSN next Wednesday and Thursday (respectively) for 800 ($10). If you lack imagination, we'll clue you in -- our rapture was immeasurable. Not only does this seem like the perfect training manual for the actual, inevitable zombocalypse, but it's a great refresher course on undead genocide before the year's more substantial zombie-action game comes out.
New details on Zombie Apocalypse, Konami's old-school gore fest
Konami and Nihilistic's upcoming downloadable title, Zombie Apocalypse, has been the subject of a monster-sized update on the PlayStation Blog. Written by Nihilistic designer John Slavin, the update outlines the style, weapons and scoring system in the upcoming PSN and XBLA title. Zombie Apocalypse is a 4-player online co-op enabled twin-stick shooter (in the vein of Smash TV) with so much realistic gore, it has apparently already been denied classification by CERO in Japan. The downloadable title includes seven environments (55 levels in total, which act as days) that are heavily inspired by zombie film masters; Romero, Fulci and Boyle. Each of the game's four playable characters (which seem very inspired by Valve's Left 4 Dead) can wield 10 different weapons -- from chainsaws to flamethrowers -- and use the game's environment to kill for extra points. Slavin promises the better gamers are, the more they will score and the longer they will last. We promise to re-organize our zombie plans for next month, when Apocalypse is scheduled to hit PSN and XBLA. Note: This post originally referred to Zombie Apocalypse as a PSN-exclusive title, which it isn't. It's coming to XBLA as well, a fact that slipped our mind when -- of all things -- a zombie took a bite out of it. Go figure. %Gallery-49992%
Joystiq hands-on: Zombie Apocalypse
Click to enlarge Tucked away in a corner at Konami's recent Gamers Night event was probably the single most entertaining game of the night: Zombie Apocalypse. No one from the publisher was demoing it, no information was provided on it -- we're still waiting for confirmation of its developer -- but everyone was playing it ... until a tripped breaker put the kiosk out of commission. This four-player co-op game was running on PS3 and, from what the gaggle of assembled journalists could deduce, appeared to be a downloadable title. That was finally confirmed this morning; it's coming to PSN and XBLA on an unknown date this summer. (Seriously, whoever is in charge of promoting the game is doing a horrible job.) As you can probably glean from the title, the gist of the game is killing zombies. The basic gameplay won't win any innovation awards; movement is on one analog stick, firing on the other. What made this simple game so fun -- apart from the fact that its simplicity made it instantly fun -- were the arenas (for lack of a better term) themselves. We played in two: a downtown disaster zone and a junkyard. Both had multiple interactive elements (a downed airliner's jet engine, a car compactor) that we were able to toss zombie bait towards, luring dozens of the undead to their (very grizzly) comeuppance. Working together with three other players to almost "herd" the zombies into these traps was almost as fun as routing them with chainsaws (every character has one as standard equipment). Konami hasn't announced who's developing Zombie Apocalypse, but we're trying to confirm rumors Nihilistic Software (Conan, Marvel Nemesis) is behind it. We definitely want to know more about the game, and we'll be sure to share whatever we find out with you. %Gallery-49992%
StarCraft: Ghost concept art surfaces, game hasn't
StarCraft: Ghost was originally poised to be a direct competitor to the Splinter Cell and Metal Gear franchises, with similar action and stealth gameplay. Set four years after the events of StarCraft: The Brood War, it was once a hotly anticipated title for Blizzard fans. Yet, the game has eluded retail shelves after years of delays and swapped hands.A gaggle of concept art is now available online of what once was Sam Fisher and Solid Snake's worst nightmare... a girl! For a little back story on the StarCraft: Ghost insanity, here is your daily history lesson: 2002 - StarCraft: Ghost is announced (at TGS), under the development eye of Nihilistic Software (of Conan fame) 2004 - Numerous delays forced Nihilistic to cede development duties to Swingin' Ape Studios (makers of Metal Arms: Glitch in the System) 2005 - A GameCube version of SG is officially canned and Blizzard decides to hold off on further development to assess the upcoming generation of consoles Mid 2006 - StarCraft: Ghost is put on 'indefinite hold' by Blizzard, who has since moved on to StarCraft 2 development Late 2006 - StarCraft Ghost: Nova was released in bookstores setting up the back story for the (now likely) vaporware title 2008 - Blizzard does not include Ghost in a presentation at D.I.C.E. referencing canceled games; Blizzard claims it was never officially canceled 2009 - Yeah, the game still doesn't exist
THQ announces 'Conan' for PS3 & Xbox 360
With the latest Conan-scooped issue of Game Informer resting beside your toilet, having had a few weeks to collect a residue of bathroom scuzz (its measure an acceptable method for determining the length of an NDA), THQ has deemed it time for the interweblings to be enlightened. 'Old news' has been made new again as THQ today announced a new Conan (the Cimmerian cum Barbarian, not O'Brien) game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Nihilistic Software.What we've been told is vague. We're to expect an action-adventure game in early 2008, highlighted by "a story of epic brutality, sheer evil and visceral combat." Sounds -- and if you've got that GI issue lying around, looks -- a lot like God of War (minus the Greek influence).See also: THQ revives Conan the Barbarian
EA developers criticize Rise of the Imperfects
EA's first foray into the fighting game genre, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, has not met with a warm response for critics or fans alike. An EA developer sent game girl advance her own review of the game – and while he or she did not personally work on the game, an employee speaking out against her own company's work is rare enough to warrant attention. The biggest problems she had with the game were the duplicate characters, the poorly implemented control scheme, and the much-too-revealing manual. However, the developer did point out a nice mechanic where the player actually gets to play as the end boss for a round, which "empowers the player." He or she did lament that most people who play the game will not stay with it long enough to see this and hopes it is a feature implemented in future fighting games. Of those who have played the game, what is your opinion on it? [via GameGeekNews. Thanks, Master X 24]
Marvel vs. EA details hit Gamespot - Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects revealed
If you've been wondering what the hell this Marvel vs. EA title is all about, wonder no more. Okay, wonder less. Gamespot does up a shallow expose on the upcoming game. But they can be forgiven the shallowness, since the developer is clearly tied to his chair by invisible (or was it visible?) EA rope. You can feel the lawyers standing behind the one-way mirror as you read. Details are still sparse, but you can expect: 1) New characters 2) 3D fighting 3) A story 4) The title, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects Is that screenshot for real? If so - nice.
